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Feb. 25—FARGO — On a 20-degree night in February 1969, following a snowstorm that clobbered much of North Dakota, 600 people stood outside the Civic Memorial Auditorium in Fargo, waiting and hoping they'd be lucky enough to see the hottest show in town.
They weren't.
Inside, the Harlem Globetrotters had reached capacity. In all, 3,357 people got there earlier to claim general admission seats — for a whopping $1.50 to $3 apiece.
For a couple of hours, those lucky enough to get inside the Civic watched the iconic team "clown their way" to a 94 — 79 exhibition victory.
This kind of love for the team — which marks its 100th anniversary this year — wasn't unusual.
"The Harlem Globetrotters have always proved to be a top attraction locally," The Forum reported in October 1953. Stories in the decades since echoed the same sentiment.
The Harlem Globetrotters traces its roots to Chicago's South Side in 1926, when players from Wendell Phillips High School competed out of the Giles American Legion Post No. 87. They first played as the Savoy Big Five before promoter Abe Saperstein bought the club in 1927 and began touring as the "New York Harlem Globe Trotters." Harlem invoked the cultural capital of Black America; "Globetrotters" suggested a worldwide reach that was, at first, more aspirational than anything.
In their early years, they were a serious competitive team, often playing hometown squads wherever they traveled. They won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1940 and, in 1948, stunned the Minneapolis Lakers at a time when professional basketball was still segregated.
By 1950, Globetrotter Chuck Cooper became the first Black player drafted into the NBA. Soon after, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton became the first Black player to sign an NBA contract.
But Saperstein understood that dominance alone wouldn't sustain crowds.
"Saperstein recognized early ... that the fans would soon tire of an exhibition in which a home team was trounced thoroughly," Forum sportswriter Eugene Fitzgerald wrote in 1953.
Comedy — often credited to Reece "Goose" Tatum — was woven into the act. Buckets of water and confetti. Trick balls and trick shots. Magical dribbling exhibitions. All with "Sweet Georgia Brown" as the soundtrack.
"Abe was the business agent, the coach, chauffeur and sixth man," Fitzgerald recalled. The Trotters traveled in a Model T Ford equipped with side curtains for protection against the elements — protection that surely came in handy on Upper Midwest tours.
Fitzgerald admired Saperstein not just as a promoter, but as a person. In a 1953 column, he recalled running into Saperstein on a New York City street. From nearly a block away, Saperstein spotted the Fargo sportswriter calling out, "Hey Eugene!" proof that even smaller cities and their people were on Saperstein's radar.
They first played in Fargo-Moorhead 95 years ago.
"The Globetrotters ... visited Fargo first in 1931," Fitzgerald wrote in 1966. "They haven't missed a year since."
Saperstein, Fitzgerald added, had "a soft spot for this area," where the Trotters did flourishing business meeting hometown teams.
In the 1930s, the Globetrotters played a three-game series against a North Dakota All-Stars squad made up of former NDAC (now NDSU) and UND standouts — names like Emmett Birk, Bob Finnegan and Russ Anderson. The All-Stars beat them two out of three.
NDAC coach Bob Lowe even suggested the homegrown players might win four of six in a prolonged series — proof that good things can happen when arch rivals work together.
Eventually, Saperstein began touring with regular opponents — the Washington Generals, New York Nationals, California Chiefs, Boston Whirlwinds and the House of David — ensuring spectacle without bruising hometown pride.
By the late 1950s, the stops had grown into full-scale events.
In February 1958, 4,500 fans packed Concordia's auditorium for a night that started with an opening game between the "Galloping Gophers," made up of University of Minnesota senior football players, and Concordia freshmen. (The newspaper never clarified whether they were freshman football players, freshman basketball players or first-year volunteers they grabbed from the campus cafeteria. Either way, Concordia won 49 — 34.)
Then came the main attraction. The Globetrotters defeated the House of David — a beard-wearing group of former college players— 79 — 50. Halftime featured unicyclists, baton twirlers, a trampolinist and Lilly Yokoi, billed as "the ballerina of the bicycle."
By the 1960s, the Globetrotters fielded three touring units, performing in 69 countries, before two Popes and once before 75,000 fans in Berlin.
For those who couldn't see them in person, ABC's "Wide World of Sports" became appointment television. Viewers would sit through "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" before enjoying the controlled chaos on the court. This was as much of a must-see on Saturday for kids as "Fat Albert" and "Hong Kong Phooey."
Famous names passed through the roster: Meadowlark Lemon, Marques Haynes, Curly Neal, Goose Tatum, Geese Ausbie — and Wilt Chamberlain, who played with the Globetrotters before becoming one of the NBA's most dominant players.
In 1985, the Globetrotters made history again when Lynette Woodard became the first woman to join the team, followed by others who helped expand the act and its audience even further.
Through it all, Fargo-Moorhead fans kept turning out. The venues grew larger (including Fargodome and Scheels Arena). Tickets were reserved, so no more waiting out in the cold.
Marissa Aldeen of Moorhead remembers an extra special outing to see the Globetrotters in 2020 with husband Jason and children Simon, then 10, and daughter Harper, then 6.
"Harper and Ice (player Brittany "Ice" Hrynko) had bonded during the meet and greet before the game. During the game, Ice invited Harper to sit courtside with her," she said. "We had no idea she would end up on the court with the players doing a trick. That was super cool!"
Justin Terjesen of Kulm, N.D., first discovered the Harlem Globetrotters watching them in Scooby-Doo movies. He attended his first game in Bismarck and later saw them in Fargo.
"The Harlem Globetrotters are absolutely amazing, hilarious, and are so great entertaining us fans with laughter," he said.
The venues may be warmer now, and the tickets more than $3. (Most now range in price from about $20 to $100.)
But the anticipation feels much the same.
Nearly a century after they first laced up sneakers in Chicago, the Harlem Globetrotters are still doing what they've done here since 1931 — drawing crowds, drawing laughs and occasionally drawing a line out the door.
On that February night in 1969, 600 people learned a lesson Fargo fans have understood for decades: If the Globetrotters are coming to town, don't be late.
Continue reading...
They weren't.
Inside, the Harlem Globetrotters had reached capacity. In all, 3,357 people got there earlier to claim general admission seats — for a whopping $1.50 to $3 apiece.
For a couple of hours, those lucky enough to get inside the Civic watched the iconic team "clown their way" to a 94 — 79 exhibition victory.
This kind of love for the team — which marks its 100th anniversary this year — wasn't unusual.
"The Harlem Globetrotters have always proved to be a top attraction locally," The Forum reported in October 1953. Stories in the decades since echoed the same sentiment.
The Harlem Globetrotters traces its roots to Chicago's South Side in 1926, when players from Wendell Phillips High School competed out of the Giles American Legion Post No. 87. They first played as the Savoy Big Five before promoter Abe Saperstein bought the club in 1927 and began touring as the "New York Harlem Globe Trotters." Harlem invoked the cultural capital of Black America; "Globetrotters" suggested a worldwide reach that was, at first, more aspirational than anything.
In their early years, they were a serious competitive team, often playing hometown squads wherever they traveled. They won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1940 and, in 1948, stunned the Minneapolis Lakers at a time when professional basketball was still segregated.
By 1950, Globetrotter Chuck Cooper became the first Black player drafted into the NBA. Soon after, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton became the first Black player to sign an NBA contract.
But Saperstein understood that dominance alone wouldn't sustain crowds.
"Saperstein recognized early ... that the fans would soon tire of an exhibition in which a home team was trounced thoroughly," Forum sportswriter Eugene Fitzgerald wrote in 1953.
Comedy — often credited to Reece "Goose" Tatum — was woven into the act. Buckets of water and confetti. Trick balls and trick shots. Magical dribbling exhibitions. All with "Sweet Georgia Brown" as the soundtrack.
"Abe was the business agent, the coach, chauffeur and sixth man," Fitzgerald recalled. The Trotters traveled in a Model T Ford equipped with side curtains for protection against the elements — protection that surely came in handy on Upper Midwest tours.
Fitzgerald admired Saperstein not just as a promoter, but as a person. In a 1953 column, he recalled running into Saperstein on a New York City street. From nearly a block away, Saperstein spotted the Fargo sportswriter calling out, "Hey Eugene!" proof that even smaller cities and their people were on Saperstein's radar.
They first played in Fargo-Moorhead 95 years ago.
"The Globetrotters ... visited Fargo first in 1931," Fitzgerald wrote in 1966. "They haven't missed a year since."
Saperstein, Fitzgerald added, had "a soft spot for this area," where the Trotters did flourishing business meeting hometown teams.
In the 1930s, the Globetrotters played a three-game series against a North Dakota All-Stars squad made up of former NDAC (now NDSU) and UND standouts — names like Emmett Birk, Bob Finnegan and Russ Anderson. The All-Stars beat them two out of three.
NDAC coach Bob Lowe even suggested the homegrown players might win four of six in a prolonged series — proof that good things can happen when arch rivals work together.
Eventually, Saperstein began touring with regular opponents — the Washington Generals, New York Nationals, California Chiefs, Boston Whirlwinds and the House of David — ensuring spectacle without bruising hometown pride.
By the late 1950s, the stops had grown into full-scale events.
In February 1958, 4,500 fans packed Concordia's auditorium for a night that started with an opening game between the "Galloping Gophers," made up of University of Minnesota senior football players, and Concordia freshmen. (The newspaper never clarified whether they were freshman football players, freshman basketball players or first-year volunteers they grabbed from the campus cafeteria. Either way, Concordia won 49 — 34.)
Then came the main attraction. The Globetrotters defeated the House of David — a beard-wearing group of former college players— 79 — 50. Halftime featured unicyclists, baton twirlers, a trampolinist and Lilly Yokoi, billed as "the ballerina of the bicycle."
By the 1960s, the Globetrotters fielded three touring units, performing in 69 countries, before two Popes and once before 75,000 fans in Berlin.
For those who couldn't see them in person, ABC's "Wide World of Sports" became appointment television. Viewers would sit through "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" before enjoying the controlled chaos on the court. This was as much of a must-see on Saturday for kids as "Fat Albert" and "Hong Kong Phooey."
Famous names passed through the roster: Meadowlark Lemon, Marques Haynes, Curly Neal, Goose Tatum, Geese Ausbie — and Wilt Chamberlain, who played with the Globetrotters before becoming one of the NBA's most dominant players.
In 1985, the Globetrotters made history again when Lynette Woodard became the first woman to join the team, followed by others who helped expand the act and its audience even further.
Through it all, Fargo-Moorhead fans kept turning out. The venues grew larger (including Fargodome and Scheels Arena). Tickets were reserved, so no more waiting out in the cold.
Marissa Aldeen of Moorhead remembers an extra special outing to see the Globetrotters in 2020 with husband Jason and children Simon, then 10, and daughter Harper, then 6.
"Harper and Ice (player Brittany "Ice" Hrynko) had bonded during the meet and greet before the game. During the game, Ice invited Harper to sit courtside with her," she said. "We had no idea she would end up on the court with the players doing a trick. That was super cool!"
Justin Terjesen of Kulm, N.D., first discovered the Harlem Globetrotters watching them in Scooby-Doo movies. He attended his first game in Bismarck and later saw them in Fargo.
"The Harlem Globetrotters are absolutely amazing, hilarious, and are so great entertaining us fans with laughter," he said.
The venues may be warmer now, and the tickets more than $3. (Most now range in price from about $20 to $100.)
But the anticipation feels much the same.
Nearly a century after they first laced up sneakers in Chicago, the Harlem Globetrotters are still doing what they've done here since 1931 — drawing crowds, drawing laughs and occasionally drawing a line out the door.
On that February night in 1969, 600 people learned a lesson Fargo fans have understood for decades: If the Globetrotters are coming to town, don't be late.
Continue reading...
